1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to a belt clip for a portable electronic device and relates particularly to a belt clip that can swivel and pivot with respect to a case for the portable electronic device so that the belt clip may function as a stand when the electronic device is placed on a flat surface.
2. Description of Related Art
A belt clip is a known structure used to attach a portable electronic device or object to the belt of a user, allowing the user to carry the device on his belt. Examples of such portable electronic devices having belt clips include cell phones, pagers, music players (e.g., mp3, WMA, AAC, etc.) and/or video players, and CD players. One typical belt clip design has an elongated member secured at one end to the top of the back of a housing of a device (or a container holding the device) to form a clip with the back of the housing, such that a user's belt can be positioned between the elongated member and the housing. Often, the elongated member is hinged to the back of the housing, and biased (e.g., by way of a spring) against the back surface of the housing to retain the user's belt between the elongated member and the housing. The bottom of the elongated member may have a hook to facilitate retention of the belt.
Belt clips are often removably attached to the housing of a portable electronic device by a slidable member coupled to the belt clip having edges that can be positioned into grooves of the housing. This allows a user to remove the belt clip if it is not needed and to temporarily remove the device to view the screen or controls on the face of the device, or in the case of a cellular telephone, to place the phone to the user's ear. A drawback of such a belt clip, however, is that it requires additional user steps to detach and attach the belt clip each time the user needs to view the screen or access controls on the face of the device.
Another drawback of such a belt clip is that it is often rigidly held to the user's body, which greatly minimizes the amount of possible movement of the device (attached to the belt clip) relative to the user's body position, and often makes wearing the device uncomfortable. This is especially true when a user is seated and the electronic device digs into the top of the user's thigh.
Yet another drawback of such a belt clip is that it does not provide the ability to place a device (attached to the belt clip) on a flat surface in an angled, semi-vertical position in either a portrait or a landscape orientation so that the user can view videos and screen images in their optimal orientation.
Accordingly, there is a need for a system and method of fastening a portable electronic device to a belt clip that would allow the user to swivel, pivot, and/or tilt the device to easily view the screen of the device without having to first remove the portable electronic device from the user's belt. There is also a need for a belt clip that, when placed on a flat surface, can affix the attached portable electronic device in a semi-vertical position in either a portrait or a landscape orientation. Such a system would reduce the need for the user to remove the portable electronic device from the user's belt and/or the belt clip to view the screen or access controls and would eliminate the need for a separate case or device to hold the portable electronic device in an angled upright position, thus providing an improvement over currently available belt clips.